Astros claim, or reclaim, Rice alum Pendleton from Yankees

Kingwood High School and Rice alum Lance Pendleton will be back with the Astros, as he was claimed off waivers from the New York Yankees, continuing a bizarre nine months that have seen him on the rosters of the Yankees, Astros, Yankees and now Astros again.

He will join the Astros for tonight’s game, giving them 34 players on the active roster including 12 relief pitchers.

The Astros selected the righthanded pitcher from the Yankees in the second round of the Rule 5 draft, but after he was not selected for the 25-man roster in spring training, he had to be offered back to the Yankees when the Astros couldn’t work out a trade.

New York then brought him up to the big leagues for a couple of stints but designated him for assignment last week, subjecting him to waivers to get him off the 40-man roster and the Astros claimed him.

Pendleton, from his home in Kingwood where he returned when the Yankees designated him for assignment, said he received notice from the Yankees of his option to accept outright assignment to the minors, which had him thinking he had not been claimed.

Thirty minutes later, the call came from Yankees general manager Brian Cashman that he was an Astro again. Then right after that, a call from Astros GM Ed Wade.

“It was quite a swing in 45 minutes,” Pendleton said. “Their loss is hopefully Houston’s gain. I hope to show that I’m deserving of that spot on the 40-man roster.”

In his first attempt to make the club, he struggled, compiling a 5.87 ERA in only 7 2⁄3 innings.

“Obviously it was disappointing not to make the roster in spring training,” Pendleton said. “I didn’t do what I needed to do to make it.”

But he showed with the Yankees that he could pitch from a major league bullpen. Pendleton had a 3.21 ERA in his 11 relief appearances (14 innings) for the Yankees this season. He also had a 3.10 mark in 10 starts and eight relief outings for their Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre club. The Astros have no long-term plan for whether he starts or relieves.

“We’ll add him to the mix and see what happens,” Wade said. “I just wanted to get him back into our organization at this point and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Glove injures reliever

Astros reliever Sergio Escalona is likely out for the season after suffering a sprained left ankle when he tripped over a stray glove in the outfield while the Astros were taking batting practice.

X-rays on Escalona were negative, and he and the training staff will go over more today before seeing team doctors Monday. But when asked if he expected to pitch again this year, Escalona, who was on crutches in the clubhouse, was pessimistic.

“I don’t think so,” Escalona said.

Yet the lefty with a 2.93 ERA saw some good news.

“I felt a little pop inside, and thank God it was only a sprained ankle,” Escalona said.

The loss reduces the Astros to one lefthanded reliever — Wesley Wright.

Odds and ends

The Astros signed undrafted free agent Alan Abreu as a righthanded pitcher out of Lander University. Abreu was a shortstop and outfielder in college and has only recently pitched. …Chris Johnson’s start Friday was his first since being recalled from Class AAA Oklahoma City. …For the second time this year, Jordan Schafer and Jason Bourgeois started and again, Schafer played center field and Bourgeois played right.

Quotable

“We might have to buy out two or three thrift stores.” — manager Brad Mills, joking about the club’s rookie hazing ritual of dressing them up in unusual garb for a road trip when the Astros have 16 rookies.